Our hopes were high as the year began, and our first quarter successes have confirmed that early optimism. We have seen significant progress across all our endeavors. Our twenty-one child-headed families are thriving. Our young heads of household support more than a hundred dependent family members. Our gardens would do any farmer proud, our beekeeping and candle making enterprises continue to gain ground, and we are excited about the launch of our corporate social initiatives program.

We welcomed ten new child heads in early March--after check-ins and introductions and team-building exercises, our week of orientation culminated in the design and creation of a beautiful mural for our meeting space.

The youth have discovered the joys and rewards of tending the soil. Every family supplements grocery staples with a variety of summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, salad greens, butternut, kale, and an assortment of herbs. There is a bountiful supply of heirloom tomatoes ripening on the vine, as well as yard-long beans, eggplant, watermelon, and peas. Vegetarian lunches have been enlivened with fresh oyster mushrooms, which have gone from something regarded with suspicion to a relished foodstuff! Our first harvest has nourished young bodies and serves as a model to encourage the youth and prove to them what is possible with a bit of hard work.

Infrastructure improvements include the clearing of trees and repair of buildings. In the next two months, our garden capacity will triple. New beds have been constructed and readied for planting. The piggery is being transformed into a greenhouse, which will allow crop production to continue through the winter for out-of-season sales to local grocery and vegetable stores. Many more seedlings will be ready for sale soon, and once the chicken tractors (moveable coops) are in place, we will be selling our organic eggs to local families and markets.

Dismantling the piggery, which will become our new greenhouse.

In the nursery we have more than two hundred zinnia flowering beautifully. Plants were pruned and delivered to garden shops around Bulawayo at the end of March. Along with the zinnia, we have flowering marigolds, grown among our vegetables for their essential oils, which repel insects. Parsley and basil plants are also on offer. The youth are excited to see their gardens come full circle: strawberry plants nurtured and transported from Vanavevhu's original premises all sent out runners that have been collected and potted for sale.

Jeffrey (R) and Brighton (L) delivering herb seedlings to Wright's Nursery

As a way to grow our social enterprise, Vanavevhu is developing a Corporate Social Initiative Partnership Program with Zimbabwe safari businesses, we are working with Monika Korn, owner of the Safari Source (http://thesafarisource.com/). Monica's clients have been asking her for opportunities to see more of the "real Africa," and she has identified Vanavevhu as an ideal partner. Clients on their way to and from Victoria Falls or Botswana will visit Vanavevhu and spend a few hours with the youth, making candles or planting seedlings. Vanavevhu is developing a product line for the Safari Source and similar companies: lip balm from our own beeswax, shea butter, and oils; candles; and breakfast honey pots.

Vanavevhu lip balm in vanilla and rose

Sibonile Dube and her daughter Lindokuhle

A heads up to Vanavevhu's US friends: Elizabeth returns to Chicago in May. She will be in the States through June and looks forward to catching up with you.

We close this update with photographs from Vanavevhu's team- and trust-building retreat at Masiye Camp in April.